


Look Me In The Eyes, Tell Me That You Love Me

by Rjbower17



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers, Love, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 11:20:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11804958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rjbower17/pseuds/Rjbower17
Summary: Soulmate au, your soulmates name will appear on your wrist on your 18th birthday, but Kim is covering the name on her wrist and Trini wants to know why....





	Look Me In The Eyes, Tell Me That You Love Me

**Author's Note:**

> Yes the title of this fic is from the 2007 hit "when you look me in the eyes" by The JONAS Brothers...
> 
> Fight me about it...

At 12 years old, Trini Gomez isn't exactly the most patient person in the world. She likes her pancakes ready when she wakes up, gets anxious on long car rides, and can't wait to get her soul mark. The only problem is the 6 years separating her from when her soulmate's name will appear on her wrist.

It's not like she's rude about her impatience she's just put a lot of thought into what they'll be like, about how happy she'll be once she knows. And she's paranoid about it, like maybe nothing will change on her 18th birthday, no name will pop up, and she'll die alone.

But she tries not to get too caught up in things that haven't happened yet. Not when she sees the way mama and papa look at each other like they put the stars in the sky.

Her impatience gets the best of her when she finds herself kissing her friend Tommy behind the bleachers of her middle school. It's raining and Tommy’s lips keep her warm as her clothes and hair grows damp.

Trini loves the way Tommy’s fingers wrap around her own while they run home through the torrential downpour. Both girls know how rare it is to have a same sex soulmate, but they're 13 and this is the one taste of love they've got and they're holding onto it for dear life.

Trini knows her mother wouldn't be happy if she knew the same lips that kiss grandma and grandpa on the cheek every week before Sunday service, are kissing Tommy’s full lips during every Saturday morning football game.

When June finds them, they're in the basement stealing a quick kiss during a movie, and within moments Tommy is standing on the front porch waiting for her mother to pick her up, and Trini is confined to her room until further notice.

A week later, June's packed up her entire family into a minivan and shipped them off 3 states west. Trini doesn't get to see if Tommy is her soulmate, let alone tell her goodbye.

\----

At 15, Trini decides that if her soulmate isn't a girl, she isn't going to believe it. She'll mark the name as null and void, leave her parents and brothers behind, and find someone else who doesn't trust the whole soulmate thing. She knows that her feelings for Tommy and the attraction to girls isn't something she made up. She knows her mother is wrong about her.

As for June, she can't wait until Trini turns 18 and reads the boy's name on her wrist, can't wait to say I told you so.

Trini keeps a calendar, counting the days until she can escape. But she's not going to waste her time with boy’s for the next 3 years, just because that's what her mother wants.

Turns out lots of high school girl’s want to experiment and for awhile, Trini is happy to be used. She'll sneak girls up to her room late at night, when the rest of the house is asleep. It's nice to be everybody's dirty secret, because no one gossips in school about how they fooled around with another girl. Trini makes sure not to gain any emotional connections. She knows she's moving the second her mother finds out and she won't be able to deal with another Tommy.

So she's careful, she cleans her sheets before her mother can wake up, she makes them go out the backdoor, she kicks girls out if they can't be quiet.

But her efforts aren't good enough. June passively holds up a pair of purple panties that definitely don't belong to Trini, when her daughter walks through the door one Tuesday after school.

Trini doesn't have to explain. She doesn't cry, she's just disappointed in herself. She wasn't careful enough.

It's not a surprise when June calls out, without looking up from the magazine she's reading, “start packing, were leaving by Friday”.

\----

Trini's just turned 17 when she decides to see where the noise on the mountain is coming from and god, she regrets it while she's running away from the sound of sirens with a pretty girl running next to her, the weight of the colored rocks in their pockets weighing them down.

When she gets into Jason Scott’s van, among catching her breath and trying to help the kid that lives on the mountain into the van, she realizes that she has biology with said pretty stranger.

Trini's content having her last image be this girl, if this train brings her to her death.

But when it turns out she's not dead, she's got to find out how. So she's running to the mountain with her new found speed, and jumping over quarries with ease, but she sure as hell doesn't want to talk to the four people that got her into this mess.

She's running away from them and up the side of the mountain, before she realizes it. But then pretty girl, is telling her that her name is Kimberly and asking her to come with them.

Trini can't. This is crazy and she must be dreaming and she's not going to entertain this trickery for one more second.

She's leaving, but then Kimberly is asking for water. And she'd usually say no, but just because she's dreaming doesn't mean she has to be rude.

But then she's being pulled down a cliff, and wanting to punch the taller girl, but instead she's screaming and holding onto the sleeves of Kim's leather jacket for dear life.

\----

It's strange the way they fall into each other after that. Quick friends that fight over donuts and have movie nights. Something about being alien super heroes does some irreversible bonding.

When Trini gets hurt, Kim looks like she's the one that was almost choked to death. Kim blames it on the morphing and their connection to each other, but there's something so innate about that she wants to crawl into herself anytime Trini comes in harm's way.

Billy dies and Kim loses her shit, because the four of them is all she's got. And Trini finds herself picking him up onto her shoulder without any hesitation.

\----

Things change after Rita. They all start to relax. No more forcing out information so they'll be able to morph. Now when Kim tells them about Ty and Amanda it's because she loves and trusts them, not because she's morally obligated to, in order to save the world.

When she explains leaking the picture out she's composed and assures that she's learned from her mistake, but she's crying on Trini's shoulder about it an hour later when the boys have left the mountain and it's just the two of them.

Kim doesn't know why but she feels alright letting Trini in passed anyone else. There's a comfort in letting her tears out and soak into Trini's shoulder. And Trini doesn't mind it, invites the new found complexity of emotions and friendship.

\----

When Kim comes over Trini's for dinner, June is more than a little skeptical, but she lets it go. She knows Trini's been making friends with boys too, so she decides that Trini could use some female friends too, as long as it remains solely platonic.

When the two teenagers go up to Trini's room after dinner, the door stays open and June stays on high alert.

Kim tells Trini about her parents and her first kiss, and Trini does her best to explain why she's so afraid of everything. And no ones expected to give advice or try too hard to fix anything. Both girls content in the presence of someone there to listen and tell them they aren't crazy.

\----

Trini finds herself digging her own grave. Staring at Kim's pink lips, finding the stars in her eyes. And Kim doesn't make it any easier, cuddling up to her during movie nights with the boys, taking her hand while they walk down the hallway. Trini smiles to herself in biology when Kim gets an answer right, and her heart soars when Kim beats Zack in an arm wrestling match.

She spends her nights dreaming about kissing her, just once to make her stop thinking about it. But she knows that's not true, she knows one kiss won't satisfy how she feels. She cries herself to sleep at night, thinking about all the names that could be on Kim's wrist but her own.

She sees the way Jason looks at her, and prays that Kim's wrist won't house the red leader.

She wants Kimberly and Jason to be happy, but watching them together would be the hardest thing she'd ever done.

\----

The months it takes before Kim turns 18 feel like an eternity. And the night before, Kim tells Trini that she hopes the name isn't Ty.

Trini laughs at that but it only makes her more paranoid.

When Trini sees her the next day, she thinks the wait is over, that her turmoil will end and she'll have concrete reason to get over Kim, but there's a band aid stuck to the inside of Kim's left wrist, over where the name should be.

No one questions it while the five of them sit around the bonfire that night. Instead they laugh, and drink whiskey Jason stole from his father, and talk about how Kim can vote now, and legally lust after Leonardo Di Caprio. No one talks about the name on her wrist or the turning point in her life.

On the walk down the mountain, Trini asks Jason to hang back. And she asks the question they'd all refrained from posing. “What's with the band aid?”

“I don't know” is his answer but the yellow ranger knows he's lying right to her face, but she assumes it's for a reason.

So for whatever reason, Kim told Jason and not her and she's hiding the name like she couldn't be more ashamed of it and Trini's thinking that maybe it is Ty.

\----

Kim's different somehow after that, more careful with herself, delicate in her movements. And Trini really tries to get over her, but with Kim being so weird, Trini doesn't know what to do but help her through whatever she's going through, even if Kim is hiding stuff from her.

Things can get sweaty during training and Kim soon realizes that her band aid isn't alway going to withstand the sweat and dirt mixture. So she starts wearing fingerless gloves that cover her wrists. And no one questions it. Not when they know Kim isn't ready to say anything.

\----

It's one night in Kim's bedroom that Trini finally asks her. She's a little drunk from Zack's moonshine, and June thinks she's in her own bed, but she couldn't sleep with the poison rushing through her veins, so she jumped out her window and booked it to the Hart Household.

Kim invited the stumbling girl into her room, getting under the covers and facing her. Kim finds tipsy Trini quite amusing, because she's so tiny it doesn't take much to get her here, and she's just so cozy looking.

With her eyes lidded she's playing with Kim’s hair and singing a Spanish lullaby and the pink ranger can't do more than giggle at the cuteness. But then Kim gets closer, tucking herself more into the bed, their mouths a few inches away and Trini has to check herself before doing anything stupid, so her best effort is the pick up Kim's hand from her side, and focusing on playing with the taller girl’s fingers.

But then she's grazing the lines of the band aid and asking before she'd contemplated the consequences, “whose name are you hiding?”

And all at once Kim is sitting up and pulling her arm away, cursing at herself for getting too comfortable.

Kim's not answering Trini's question and the girl didn't think Kim would give in so easily but apparently she isn't against making Kim feel guilty, “You told Jason, Why can't you tell me?”

And Trini's hoping Kim trusts her enough to let her in, but too soon Kim is saying “sometimes you're better off not knowing, what we don't know can't hurt us.”

“But you know and you're hurting. I just want to help, Kim,” and Trini really wishes she could reel in her tongue right about now, but she's glad they're finally having this conversation.

But then Kim is tucking herself back into bed, facing away from Trini now, with her arms clenched in front of her. “Go to bed, T”

\----

Trini's not really sure how to feel after that. She wants to understand but she feels betrayed. They swim around the awkward between them. Trini rather deal with Kim not telling her the truth than losing the girl altogether, not to mention tearing the rangers apart.

But things have a way of boiling up. Because Jason and Kimberly are whispering to each other in the hallway, while Trini's on her way to the bathroom during math. And okay maybe she's overreacting at first, because Kim and Jason are allowed to talk to each other, and there's probably a totally logical explanation for them whispering, because you know they live double lives and all, but upon closer inspection, Trini hears Jason say the words, “why don't you just tell her?”

And as much as she'd like to eavesdrop, she can't deal with the consequences. She turns on her heel and heads in the opposite direction, blocking out anything else they say.

She'll push down her feelings as long as Kim needs to keep this secret.

\----  
That of course only holds true until after school in the quarry. They're about to start training but Kim forgot her glove, so she's asking Jason to train with her instead of anyone else. And that's not really a big deal, but it's been months since she turned 18 and Trini can't deal anymore.

She's punching Zack a little too hard and looking over at Kim and Jason, hoping to gain a glimpse of the name under the band aid.

She looks over at the two a moment too long, and Zack socks her in the face. She's on the ground before Zack has pulled his hand back. It's not bad, really, it's just a black eye, but Trini's frustrated. Frustrated because Zack gave her a black eye that could've been avoided had Kimberly spoken to her.

Billy's over in an instant, checking her face, and Zack is standing there looking guilty and apologizing profusely. Trini assures that it's okay. Kim and Jason walk over and Kim tosses herself down on the ground in front of Trini, taking her chin in her hand to examine her eye. And Trini isn't sure what she's doing, but she doesn't want Kim touching her in that moment. She shrinks away from the touch, easing her body up between Kim and Billy and walking towards the entrance of the quarry.

Kim's chasing after her before she can think to do anything else. And Trini hasn't made it 20 ft before, Kim's latched onto her hand.

“What's wrong?” Kim's pleading.

“I don't want to talk to you, Kim,” she's saying with a venom she didn't know that she could conjure.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“You can't be honest with me, Kim,” Trini takes a breath, while Kim stares, “At first it was fine, your soulmate, your business, but it's been months, and I'm your best friend, and I can't stop thinking about a stupid soulmate mark, and you won't fucking tell me…”

And Kim wants to say everything, to hug her and make it better, but she knows that she screwed up, knows that this isn't fixable with a hug.

So she lets her go, let's Trini leave.

She gives her her space, doesn't intrude, doesn't touch Trini or ask to hang out just the two of them. They have biology together and training, and they don't see each other outside of that. When the 5 of them are hanging out the two girls don't talk, sit on opposite sides of the room.

Trini puts up a pretty good front, but Kim looks visibly miserable. The yellow ranger isn't going to back down just because the bags under Kim's eyes have doubled in a week, or because she seems off at training. Kim doesn't participate in biology anymore, but Trini does her best to just pretend she doesn't exist.

Billy and Zack try to intervene but Jason makes them stay out of it.

It stays like this for awhile, awkward silences, and no laughter, until Trini has had enough. She asks Kim to get Krispy Kreme with her after school, and Kim smiles in a way she hadn't since Trini stopped talking to her a few weeks ago.

They don't talk about their fight or the band aid that still remains on Kim's wrist. They settle back into their friendship. But it's different, careful. Trini doesn't sleep over anymore, and Kim doesn't request to hold hands. Kim seems stiff on movies nights, without Trini in her arms.

Trini's just happy, they're talking at this point.

\----

But then Trini is finally turning 18 tomorrow and she feels so different about it then she did when she was 12.

She kind of didn't want to know, save herself the travesty of all the possibilities.

The chance of it being a boys name still haunted her, but the idea that Kim would know who Trini's soulmate is and Trini still didn't know who Kim's was make it worse.

And then there was Tommy. She still thought about her first girlfriend on the nights that she needed to get Kim out of her head.

The rangers saved her from thinking too much about it the night before, by camping up on the mountain until it got dark. By 10, Zack, Jason, and Billy were heading down toward Angel Grove, with the promise of celebrating with Trini in the morning.

Kim stayed under the guise that she wasn't ready to go home yet. She suggested going for a walk and Trini agrees.

It's 11:55 pm when they find themselves sitting on the top of the cliff, Kim had once pushed Trini off of.

And Trini keeps checking her phone for the time, nervously swinging her legs over the side of the rock, rubbing the sweat from her palms on her jeans.

And Kim's there smiling at her, because she was the same way 5 minutes before she found out who her soulmate is and suddenly she's crying, wondering why she put Trini through so much hurt.

Trini's looking at her wrist, rubbing the skin there and waiting, waiting for the timer to go off on her phone.

The space under her palms starts to tingle just as the alarm rings out. Kim shuts off the sound, as the first letter starts to ingrain itself into her tanned skin.

It only takes the first 2 letters for reality to sink, but Trini waits for all 8 to be drawn out before she looks up.

She's only got one question, “why didn't you tell me?”

“I didn't know if yours would be me”

And Trini wants to scream for the months she spent with her mind unraveling but she sees all the insecurity in Kim's eyes. She's crying in this way that Trini knows she can't stop.

“I didn't want you to be chained to the idea of us if you didn't have my name, and then I fucked everything up by not telling you, and then I thought you hated me, and I just I thought you'd get someone else…you deserve someone else”

But Trini's not running away or freaking out like she thought she would, because having Kimberly's name on her wrist makes more sense than anything else in the world. And she's taken a broken Kimberly in her arms and telling her that it's okay, only pulling away enough to peel today's final band aid off of Kim's wrist to reveal lighter skin. And Trini's tracing her own name with her fingers and kissing the top of her soulmates forehead.

Kim keeps saying she's sorry, but Trini keeps kissing her half way through her apology. It's a spark that Trini's dreams didn't even come close to. A safety in new beginnings and truth.

It's not five minutes later that Kim's phone blows up with text message after text message from Jason.

Jason: YOOOO

Jason: DOES HER WRIST SAY KIM?????

Jason: ARE YALL SOULMATES OR NOT???

Jason: KIMBERLY

Jason: I just realized that you're probably not answering because you're either crying or making out...or maybe both

Jason: KIM ANSWER ME

Kim: hey Jason, this is Trini, and boy am I mad at you for not telling me

Jason: OH NO GTG

Kim: I'm just fucking with you -T

Kim: I still love you -T  
  
Jason: goooooood love u guys 2

Kim's phone is forgotten after that, because Kim's pushing Trini into the water below them and this time Trini has more than the reason of fear for holding onto Kim.

And when they pop up out of the water, soaked from head to toe, arms wrapped tightly around each and other, eyes a light, Trini isn't afraid anymore.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to take a break from The Fear of Falling Apart and I've wanted to write a trimberly soulmate fic for a while so I hope u enjoyed this impulsively written one shot I busted out in a few hrs 
> 
> As usual kudos and comments are much appreciated 
> 
> Tumblr: eyesfadefromgreentogray
> 
> Insta: rjbower17


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